Ram Singh I was the elder son of

Jai Singh I Jai Singh I (15 July 1611 – 28 August 1667) was a senior general ("Mirza Raja") of the Mughal Empire and the Raja of the Kingdom of Amber (later called Jaipur). His predecessor was his grand uncle, Raja Bhau Singh. Accession and early ca ...

and was the ruler of

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

(now part of the

Jaipur Municipal Corporation Jaipur Municipal Corporation or Jaipur Nagar Nigam is municipal corporation of Jaipur city in Rajasthan state in India. Jaipur Municipal Corporation is responsible for maintaining the city's civic infrastructure and carrying out associated admin ...

), and head of the Kachwaha

Rajput clan Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

. He was also subehdar of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. He was commissioned by the

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

in 1667 to invade the Ahom kingdom of present-day

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, but the loss at the ultimate

Battle of Saraighat The Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire (led by the Kachwaha raja, Ram Singh I), and the Ahom Kingdom (led by Lachit Borphukan) on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati, Assam, In ...

and the subsequent retreat led to his recall and disgrace.

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Ram Singh

When Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj went to Agra in the Mughal court, on 12 May 1666, he was made to stand alongside relatively low-ranking nobles, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj took offence and stormed out of court and was promptly placed under house arrest. Ram Singh was granted custody of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his son. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's house arrest situation was precarious. Aurangzeb's court deliberated whether to execute him or keep him as a servant. Jai Singh, having assured Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj of his personal safety, tried to influence Aurangzeb's decision. However, Aurangzeb intended to kill Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and ordered Faulad Khan to transfer Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from Ram Singh's custody to Radanaza Khan's house. Kunwar Ram Singh refused to deliver over Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj because his father, Jai Singh, had promised Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's safety and that he should be slain first to kill Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Aurangzeb made him to sign security bond for Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj devised a strategy for emancipation. He ordered the majority of his troops home and urged Ram Singh to withdraw his pledges to the emperor for the safe custody of himself and his son. Shivaji escaped and left Agra on August 17, 1666, by putting himself in one of the enormous baskets and his son Sambhaji in another. After Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's escape, Ram Singh was accused of assisting Shivaji's escape and was punished, first by being barred from entering court and subsequently by being demoted.

Ahom Campaign

Ram Singh was forced to fight Ahom force with 21 Rajput chiefs, own paid 4,000 soldiers, 1,500 ahadis, 500 artillerymen, and with the reinforcements from Bengal, numbers totalled upto 30,000 infantry, 18,000 turkish cavalry, and 15,000 Koch archers. Ram Singh was eventually defeated and with his troops further reduced he could only helplessly retreat until the governor of Bengal sent some troops to aid him. Ram Singh grew sick of war and finally, in 1676 he was allowed to leave and return to his province. He was later posted in

Kohat Kohat ( ps, کوهاټ; ur, ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century ...

where he died in 1688.

Notes

References

* Sarkar Jadunath (1984, reprint 1994). ''A History of Jaipur'', New Delhi: Orient Longman, . * 1688 deaths Maharajas of Jaipur 17th-century Indian monarchs Year of birth unknown {{Maharajas of Jaipur

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Ram Singh

Ahom Campaign

See also

Notes

References